On 26 October, Professor Rainer Klump, President of the University of Luxembourg, signed an agreement with the Confucius Institute Headquarters in China and Fudan University for the establishment of a Confucius Institute at the University of Luxembourg. Prof Klump was one of the members of the Luxembourgian delegation to China headed by HRH Crown Prince Guillaume in the presence of the Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna.

Increasing the cooperation with Chinese universities

The purpose of the Confucius Institute will be to further strengthen the relationship between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and People's Republic of China, and increase the cooperation between the University of Luxembourg and leading universities in China. It will help promote the scientific and cultural exchange between the two countries, improve mutual understanding, and provide a platform for information sharing. Fudan University in Shanghai, one of the top-ranked Chinese universities, will be the partner institution.

"I am excited that the University of Luxembourg is able to launch this new Confucius Institute together with Fudan University Shanghai. With this very prestigious collaboration we further strengthen our position as the most international university in Europe and as a preferred European hub for our international partners," commented Rainer Klump.

Economic, cultural, scientific exchange

The scope of the Confucius Institute is, among other things, to provide teaching of Chinese as a foreign language and vocational Chinese language courses, training of teachers of Chinese language for secondary schools, organise Chinese language and certification tests, as well as cultural activities. As it grows, the Confucius Institute also aims to establish a high-level platform for economic, cultural, scientific exchange and base the European Centre of the Confucius Institute in Luxembourg.

The Confucius Institute will be located in the Maison du Savoir on Belval Campus. The Institute will become operational in the second semester of 2017. 2017 will also mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Luxembourg. A great opportunity to push the bilateral relations to a new level and establish a Confucius Institute.